


The Machine

by sonneta



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonneta/pseuds/sonneta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it came down to it, Peter knew what he had to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Machine

**Author's Note:**

> Post-"Marionette".

When it came down to it, Peter knew what he had to do. There may have been a time in his life when he would have run from this fate, but now, he knew that there was nowhere to run. This universe would end, or the other universe would end, unless he did the needed thing.

Peter unlocked the door to his father’s lab, flipping the lights on. He hadn’t told anyone that he had finished the machine. He also hadn’t told anyone about the modifications he was making along the way. He hadn’t told anyone that he planned to use the machine - tonight, in the middle of the night, when he knew none of them would be around to stop him.

Peter turned on the machine with a touch. He started checking to make sure it seemed to be working correctly. He had always been good with mechanical things, and he could only hope that he had built the modified machine exactly right. If he was correct, the machine would separate the worlds again, sending them back to their rightful places. If he was wrong -- well, he had to hope that he wasn’t wrong.

Of course, the modified machine would still kill him. He knew that Astrid and Olivia would take care of Walter - that they would take care of each other. Really, when it came down to it, he doubted there were too many people in either universe that would miss him much.

Peter shook his head to dismiss his own pity-party. He knew he was just stalling now. He took a breath, and stepped into his place in the machine. As the machine locked in place around him, he wondered if he shouldn’t have dosed himself with some of Walter’s drugs first - he had no idea how much this would hurt.  


* * *

  
Olivia woke up startled, her heart pounding in her ears. At first, she thought she’d had a nightmare, but then she realized that there was, in fact, someone pounding at her door. At -- she glanced at her alarm clock -- three-fifteen in the morning.

Olivia ran to the door, wondering why whoever it was hadn’t called. Surely Broyles or -- one of the Bishops would call.

She looked through the peep hole and saw the bald, albino man she had dubbed The Observer. Puzzled, she opened the door.

“You must go to him,” said The Observer.

“Him? Who?” Olivia asked, but she dreaded the answer. Some part of her knew it was Peter.

“The One who is not meant to be in this world,” The Observer replied. Then he rattled off some numbers that she assumed to be longitude and latitude. He saw her puzzled look, and translated. “At his father’s laboratory. Go.”

Olivia turned to her closet, grabbing a coat and pushing her feet into shoes. By the time she came out of her apartment, The Observer was gone again. She shook her head - no time to worry about The Observer now. Peter was in danger.  


* * *

  
Olivia rushed into the lab a short time later. “Peter?” she called, but then she saw something - light pouring from a far corner. She raced towards it. She stopped suddenly as she saw Peter.

She was too late - Peter was in the machine. She didn’t have time to see much more than that-- She had to avert her eyes as beams of light, which seemed to be radiating from Peter himself, became brighter and brighter.

“Peter...” she whispered. The thought of what he was doing... what he had done was all-consuming. She remembered the illustration she’d been shown, the one with smoke coming from Peter’s eyes. She risked another short glance towards Peter, and realized this looked similar, only there was light instead of smoke.

Olivia closed her eyes and hid them under her arm. She inched herself towards the machine, towards Peter. She didn’t think there was much she could do, now, but maybe...

After an interminable amount of time, Olivia realized the light was gone. She lowered her arm and ran the rest of the way to the machine.

“Peter... Peter?” She called.

She wondered how she was going to turn the machine off, but just then, it released Peter’s body with a click. Olivia caught him, gently guiding his body to the floor. “Peter?” she asked again, stroking his face with a hand. She checked his pulse, but her own heart was racing so fast that it was too hard to tell whether his was still going.

Peter’s body was still, though -- too still. Tears dripped down Olivia’s cheek as she placed a hand over Peter’s heart. She held her breath, hoping to feel Peter’s chest rise or the beat of his heart, but there was nothing.

Olivia was shocked into action -- she immediately started chest compressions, counting them out loud as she had been taught. She went through the motions almost clinically - compressions, check for breathing, rescue breaths, back to compressions. It was easier if she could detach a little from the body she was working on. Easier if she didn’t think of who she might lose - who she might have already lost.

Suddenly, before she could start a new set of compressions, Peter’s chest rose under her hand. “Peter,” Olivia called again, gently placing a hand against his cheek. She knew she needed to call an ambulance - but she also realized she didn’t have her cell phone with her, so she’d have to use the lab’s phone. And she wasn’t leaving Peter until she was sure he was okay.

Finally, Peter’s eyes opened. “Olivia?” He asked. “Am I... I’m not dead?”

Olivia shook her head, tears falling down her face again. She stroked his cheek, leaning down to place a kiss on it. “No,” she whispered. "You... were, but..."

With her head next to his, Olivia could just see Peter’s half-smile. “Sorry about that. You do it too, though. Saving the world - worlds and all.”

“Give me a heads-up next time, would you?” She asked, gently laying her cheek next to his own.  


* * *

  
Olivia walked into Peter's hospital room smiling. "You did it," she said. "It worked."

"It worked," Peter smiled, his head leaning back.

"Yeah, as far as the scientists at Massive Dynamic can tell, we're back where we should be. And the soft spots seem to have faded."

"So, what now?" Peter asked.

Olivia crossed to his side, and sat on the bed next to him. "Well, I'm going to spring you out of this place. And then--" she kissed him deeply.

When they broke apart, Peter smiled again. "I like that plan. A lot."


End file.
